MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SubscriberWise® the nation’s first issuing consumer reporting agency for
the communications industry and the leading provider of analytics-driven
subscriber risk management and rules technology, announced today that
the company president David Howe has obtained a perfect Vantage score of
990. The event follows a perfect 850 FICO score obtained by Howe one
week earlier.

The two perfect scores – mathematically demonstrated and astonishingly
rare - offer strong evidence that FICO and Vantage models are correlated
among high-percentile scores and granular predictive factors are
consistent between the competing algorithms. FICO scores remain the
dominant scoring technology in the market today.

“David Howe’s obsession for the highest achievement is not limited to
perfect credit scores,” said David Hoffer, chief operating officer for
MCTV and vice president for SubscriberWise. “In addition to this
remarkable mastery of personal credit, Howe has consistently achieved
what may be the lowest bad debt losses on record of any communications
operator in North America: .02 as a percentage of revenue at MCTV on
sales in excess of $60,000,000.00 annually. And to Howe’s real acclaim,
included in this percentage are losses from unreturned equipment,”
emphasized Hoffer.

“The success has not gone unnoticed,” continued Hoffer. “Over the past
decade, Howe has been consulted by nearly every leading communications
operator in the country including Sprint, Time Warner, Mediacom,
Metrocast, Atlantic Broadband, Armstrong, Antietam, Comporium, Grande,
Cincinnati Bell, BendBroadband, NPG, NewWave, GTA Teleguam, Cable ONE,
Shentel, and many others. Howe’s unbridled passion and demonstrated
expertise with credit and risk management can be found everywhere in the
industry today. Industry-wide the net positive cash flow for operators
using SubscriberWise is measured in tens of millions of dollars
annually. Perhaps obsession has its rewards,” concluded Hoffer.

Howe is the founder and president of SubscriberWise, the first U.S.
issuing consumer reporting agency for the communications industry. Howe
is also a consultant and credit manager for MCTV, a multiple system
operator founded in 1965 by Richard Gessner. MCTV serves 47,000
subscribers in northeast Ohio. Howe has been employed by MCTV for 18
years.

Howe recently went on the record to share with the public specific
details that he hopes will empower consumers and boost credit scores for
individuals everywhere. Howe is the first U.S. citizen to describe and
report detailed circumstances that generated perfect FICO and Vantage
credit scores. The information was provided during an 80-minute
interview with Polyana da Costa, senior mortgage reporter for
Bankrate.com. Howe also provided additional details to journalist Seth
Arenstein that will be reported in a future publication.

“I want to thank Bankrate.com and Polyana da Costa in particular for
providing the interview opportunity and helping to disseminate
information that she and I agree is valuable for consumers everywhere,”
stated David Howe. “I also want to acknowledge that I do not know all
things FICO or Vantage. Despite my position with MCTV and
SubscriberWise, I’m not expert on everything concerning consumer credit
and scoring. But I do understand – profoundly - what events impact my
individual consumer reports as well as my personal credit scores. That’s
very important. And over the years, I’ve learned how to maximize my
personal scores despite the inevitable financial events and setbacks. I
want others to know they can achieve the same. I’m hopeful the
information I’ve provided Polyana and Seth will help to accomplish this
objective.”

“From my professional perspective it’s time to raise the bar on the
subject of consumer credit and scores,” Howe emphasized. “Consumers must
understand their own credit at a granular level. They should understand
at a basic level how business rules and decision management technology
impact their lives in ways they may never have imagined. They must
understand specific factors that impact their scores, even if the
impacts are minimal (fact: a credit report that contains revolving
credit card accounts but has no reported revolving balance when the
score is calculated can lower a score by 20 points or more). Consumers
must know that FICO, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian do not own the
predictive factors; they simply tease-out and refine those factors to
add precision to their scoring algorithms. Consumers must understand
that no organization and no human being will ever own what is ultimately
predictive. Young adults obtaining credit for the first time should also
be empowered with this knowledge and information and I plan to continue
sharing what I’ve learned with them.”

"David Howe has shared with me such good advice and information on how
the credit scoring system works and how to make good decisions to help
me keep my credit score optimal," said Christopher Dewald, customer
support representative for MCTV and 6-year colleague with Howe. "I feel
that education on personal finances and credit is lacking with many
younger people and I am glad I've had my conversations with David."

“Credit scores are critically important,” continued Howe. “They impact
and control our financial lives. Credit can determine if you can rent a
car at the airport, get and maintain a job, obtain the most favorable
insurance rates, how much deposit you may pay for phone and cable, or
whether you’re able to rent an apartment.

“Credit is not a game but people who don’t play lose,” stated Howe.

“As an experienced credit manager, I argue that every consumer should
seek the highest possible credit score and pursue the maximum
point-buffer to ensure the most favorable terms and opportunities while
navigating life’s financial events. Consumers struggling with difficult
financial situations should also focus careful attention on their
credit. Everyone should understand that credit can be redeemed no matter
the situation or life event. No one should agonize over their credit.
There are always options.”

“Finally, it’s time for the certified financial planners and the other
‘experts’ to stop selling America short with the same advice they mimic
constantly. Credit is too crucial a subject and we should reject
distractions like the recent blog from Credit.com’s Christine DiGangi (http://blog.credit.com/2014/04/this-guy-put-out-a-press-release-about-getting-a-perfect-credit-score-80430/).
Although I’ll concede that obsession over maintaining a perfect score is
not a healthy or prudent pursuit, I’ll never deny that a deep
understanding of the details of one’s personal credit should occupy much
more than an occasional concern.”

“FICO, with its trademark displayed conspicuously on its corporate
website, announces ‘Make Every Decision Count.’ I couldn’t agree more,”
concluded Howe. “Therefore, let’s make every single decision count while
also making every single point count.”

SubscriberWise® launched as the first U.S. issuing consumer reporting
agency exclusively for the cable industry in 2006. In 2009,
SubscriberWise and TransUnion announced a joint marketing agreement for
the benefit of America’s independent cable operators (http://www.subscriberwise.com/TransUnionJointMarketing.pdf).
Today SubscriberWise is a risk management preferred-solutions provider
for the National Cable Television Cooperative.

SubscriberWise is a U.S.A. federally registered trademark of the
SubscriberWise Limited Liability Co. The SubscriberWise mark was
declared incontestable by the USPTO in 2013.